It was extremely cold and it was planned for me to go hunting with Dr.MacCarty. It was also the day for the Hunters Helping Kids hunt, 4 kids were chosen from many to hunt on land that was producing big deer. We ate some spaghetti, then arranged everyone with their guides and then we set off to the hunting blinds. I went to the truck and grabbed the Tikka .308 and some bullets then hopped in Dr. MacCarty’s truck. My friend Michael, was following us to the MacCarty property. When we arrived, we decided to go out about 2:45-3:00 and sit. But till kill an hour, we helped process the two deer they had taken that morning.
Finally, after a lot of dirty gutting and processing work, it was time to go to the stands. I worried that I would stink too much and the deer would smell me. We rode on the bad boy buggy up the hill and parked it. We then gathered our gear and walked up the road. We checked the field and then put Michael and his dad in the first box blind. We looked over this box blind for about a week and had seen plenty of does and small bucks, so we knew this should be a good spot for him.
Dr. MacCarty and I walked down the food plot and climbed in the second box blind about 200 yards from the first box blind. We sat and waited for the deer to come. To pass some time, Dr. MacCarty read his book while I took pictures of a cardinal and watched the tree line for movement. I had watched the tree line so much by that hour that I thought my eyes were starting to play tricks on me. Then, something white flicked in the corner of my eye. I looked toward the bottom and out pops a deer head. It was 146 yards away. I couldn’t quite tell whether it was a doe or buck. I whispered to Dr. MacCarty, “Hey, there’s a deer, looks like a doe.” He put his book down and looked and said, “ok…get the gun up.” I brought the .308 up quickly and rested it on the ledge.
I looked through my scope on 9x power and could see the deer clearly. As he turned his head , my heart felt like it was coming out of my chest! This was a NICE six point buck. He told me that whenever I could, shoot him. I waited and when he turned broad side, I let the bullet go. I watched in the scope as the buck folded up in his tracks and did not move. I was so happy and I gave Dr. MacCarty a big hug and we high fived each other. We got quiet and watched but I still had buck fever running through me because I was shaking and full of joy. I soon replaced that shaking with coldness as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.
We watched and a little while later a small 4 pt. came out but immediately stopped and looked at my deer, wondering what he was doing. We watched as this deer stood in wonder for about an hour. We decided to let this little buck go because he was special. He had a small kicker on his left side and also he was too small to shoot for buck management. When the time came, we walked up to Michaels box blind and see what went on up the hill. They told us that they didn’t see anything but a groundhog and that they heard us shoot. We told them that we will get the bad boy buggy and come get the deer.
As soon as we reached the buggy it was already dark. Paul and Michael volunteered to drive and come to get my deer, so us three hopped on and took off to the deer. When we got to the deer, we looked up and the 4pt was watching us. We examined and looked at the deer and then loaded him up. On the way up the little hill, the buggy died! We were stranded with a dead buggy and deer about a ½ a mile from the house with very little cell phone service.
We waited for a few minutes, tried pushing the cart up the hill and then waiting more. Finally Dr.MacCarty called and was wondering where we were. We told him and said “ok I’m on my way with the other golf cart!” While waiting we talked and debated about how much the buck would score and weigh. Then we heard something on the road, I listened and watched as lights came into the field. Dr.MacCarty pulled up on the old golf cart and we all jumped on.
We went back to the house and they dropped me and Michael off. Dr.MacCarty and Paul went back to get my deer. Dad pulled up and came in. The first question he asked was “Didn’t you shoot a deer?” I laughed and replied “Yea, he hasn’t arrived yet” lol I told him the story and we talked and waited. Finally, Dr. MacCarty came through the door and I ran outside to show dad my deer. I was so proud of that deer, even though it was a lot of points or mass, but it was the widest deer I had ever killed yet. I was really happy I had the opportunity the harvest this deer and not only but I had an excellent hunting season. I just hope my turkey season will be just as good as deer season was.
